Friday, May 20, 2005

On the Upper West Side the newest Pookie & Sebastian boutique opened last week, offering the chain's trademark girlish fashions for day or night. High-end denim labels, including Seven for All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity, share the floor with beaded cocktail dresses, tiered cotton skirts and hobo bags. At 322 Columbus Avenue, (212) 580-5844.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to use the Upper West Side streets as a place to carry bags from Fairway, Zabars, and H&H all at once, while wearing purple hemp drawstring pants, an ill-fitting sweatshirt, and Tevas, hair unkempt, body unsculpted, yelling at your husband, children yelling and wearing dirty t-shirts, with bits of Tasti-d-lite congealing at the corner of your mouth. Those days are over.